HOSPITAL admissions caused by alcohol misuse cost the Welsh NHS £109m every year, it was revealed today.

Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething today revealed the cost of the 34,000 admissions each year at a conference about alcohol-related brain damage, in Cardiff, the Deputy Minister said that figures show 42% of adults in Wales report drinking more than the recommended guideline amount of alcohol at least once in the last week.

And new statistics released last month for alcohol-related deaths showed there were 467 deaths in Wales in 2013.

The Public Health Observatory report Alcohol and Health in Wales 2014 reveals that in 2012-13 there were around 21,700 males and 12,300 females admitted to hospitals in Wales with alcohol-attributable conditions.

The Deputy Minister confirmed that the Welsh Government will invest almost £50m in 2015-16 in initiatives to tackle the harms associated with both alcohol and drug misuse.

The investment made since the Welsh Government’s substance misuse strategy Working Together to Reduce Harm was launched in 2008 has enabled significant progress to be made.

There has been clear progress on reducing waiting times for treatment, with the percentage of clients starting treatment within 20 working days increasing from 73% in 2009-10 to 87% in 2013-14, continuing the trend of improvement over the five-year period.

Mr Gething said: “Alcohol misuse is leading to a range of well-evidenced health and social harms, particularly for the significant minority of people who drink to excess and do not recognise the harm they are doing to themselves and others.

“While there has been an overall downward decline in the number of alcohol-related deaths in Wales since 2008, that people die as a result of consuming too much alcohol is still a stark reminder of the challenges we still face in tackling the causes and impact of substance misuse.

“Each of these deaths is a personal tragedy for the individuals and their family and friends and illustrates the importance of having good-quality, responsive local alcohol treatment services.

“Since 2008, there has been general reduction in waiting times for both assessment and treatment. Today’s conference about alcohol-related brain damage is also as it helps us to improve diagnosis and continue to develop evidence-based responses to the implications of excessive alcohol misuse.

“I am determined that we must not be complacent and we must explore the use of all the policy levers available to us to tackle and reduce the harms that substance misuse causes to society as a whole.”

Alongside a range of education and prevention initiatives, the Welsh Government is also currently taking forward the preparatory work necessary to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol in Wales.